Eike-König – Julian Present

13—21 Eike König

INTERVIEW

Eike König IS A MAN OF MANY TRAITS. HE IS A GRAPHIC DESIGNER, ARTIST, TEACHER AND FOUNDER OF HORT. THE GRAPHIC DESIGN STUDIO IS A COMMUNITY IN THE CENTRE OF BERLIN WHERE CREATIVES CAN COLLABORATE ON IDEAS AND CLIENT BRIEFS SIDE BY SIDE. WE TALKED WITH EIKE ABOUT THE EARLY YEARS OF HIS CARER AS AN ART DIRECTOR AT THE TECHNO LABEL Logic Records, HOW IT FEELS TO PUT YOUR OWN NAME ON YOUR WORK AND HIS UNIQUE FREE-SPIRITED DESIGN APROACH.

I USED MY INNER DISCOURSE AS INSPIRATION TO CREATE POSTERS.

FORWARD MAGAZINE

GRAPHIC DESIGN WAS NOT EXACTLY A COMMON CAREER CHOICE IN THE LATE 1980'S AND EARLY 1990'S. WHAT MADE YOU BECOME A GRAPHIC DESIGNER?

EIKE KÖNIG It was a mixture of cold war and music. Since my parents had been politically engaged, I got in touch with critical journalism at an early age.I felt that the used infographics were quite depressing but informative, nevertheless. I was fascinated by the power and directness of the visual language. At the same time, I tried to escape the fear of nuclear annihilation by diving into music. The medium at the time was vinyl and its packaging graphically influenced me. While listening to music, I would contemplate about the graphic designers behind it. In addition to this, I wasn’t the best at school and had trouble adapting to its system.

FORWARD MAGAZINE You dropped out of graphic design college in order to start working for the Frankfurt based Techno Label Logic Records. What was the reasoning behind this decision?

EIKE KÖNIG College turned out to be a flop. The idea that a revolution was happening there faded away after a couple of weeks. It was mostly about the past and its icons. The teaching model was rather backward, and I was more interested in the future. The environment did not allow me to properly engage in public discourse. My rescue came when I got the internship at Logic Records. When the former art director left the company and I got offered his position – it was an offer I could not refuse. So, I dropped out of college right before graduation and took charge of the Art Department at Logic Records. →

EIKE KÖNIG It was a mixture of cold war and music. Since my parents had been politically engaged, I got in touch with critical journalism at an early age.I felt that the used infographics were quite depressing but informative, nevertheless. I was fascinated by the power and directness of the visual language. At the same time, I tried to escape the fear of nuclear annihilation by diving into music. The medium at the time was vinyl and its packaging graphically influenced me. While listening to music, I would contemplate about the graphic designers behind it. In addition to this, I wasn’t the best at school and had trouble adapting to its system.

FORWARD MAGAZINE You dropped out of graphic design college in order to start working for the Frankfurt based Techno Label Logic Records. What was the reasoning behind this decision?

EIKE KÖNIG College turned out to be a flop. The idea that a revolution was happening there faded away after a couple of weeks. It was mostly about the past and its icons. The teaching model was rather backward, and I was more interested in the future. The environment did not allow me to properly engage in public discourse. My rescue came when I got the internship at Logic Records. When the former art director left the company and I got offered his position – it was an offer I could not refuse. So, I dropped out of college right before graduation and took charge of the Art Department at Logic Records. →

FORWARD MAGAZINE Techno in the 1990’s was an emerging music type and Frankfurt its most important city. In hindsight, how do you think your covers have influenced the music?

EIKE KÖNIG I am no megalomaniac, maybe a bit self-absorbed. I don’t think my work made much of an impact. A new musical genre had been born and that doesn’t happen every day. And since it had no specific style just yet, I was free to do whatever I wanted and let my ideas run wild. To constantly reinvent myself was a powerful tool to hone my skills. A lot of records were released at the time, and with them, covers. I was very much excited by the transition from analogue to digital. This is when I first came into touch with Photoshop etc. There were many new things to discover. There are a couple of publications on this topic which have included my work. Thus, my work has been recognized.

FORWARD MAGAZINE We talked about your journey from art director of a music label to self-employed graphic designer. Then came the transition to HORT and hence back to working in a team. Since 2015 however, you have begun to work independently under the name Eike König again. You’ve worked on your own prints and posters. What drove you to this decision and how does it feel to see your name on your work again?

EIKE KÖNIG After twenty years at HORT, I was invited to spend some time in Rome at the Villa Massimo. I used this time to contemplate my future. I conscious- ly chose this place to work on myself. There were no jobs and no safety net that I have today. I used my inner discourse as inspiration to create posters I used to print by hand. The more I engaged with subject of language and context, the more room for investigation I discovered. This has been my focus since 2013. How it feels? Well, stuff that I really do on my own, should be allowed to carry my name. The things I do within a team, are run under the HORT brand. Marketing myself is fun, as I can fall back on past experiences and accomplishments.

FORWARD MAGAZINE Techno in the 1990’s was an emerging music type and Frankfurt its most important city. In hindsight, how do you think your covers have influenced the music?

EIKE KÖNIG I am no megalomaniac, maybe a bit self-absorbed. I don’t think my work made much of an impact. A new musical genre had been born and that doesn’t happen every day. And since it had no specific style just yet, I was free to do whatever I wanted and let my ideas run wild. To constantly reinvent myself was a powerful tool to hone my skills. A lot of records were released at the time, and with them, covers. I was very much excited by the transition from analogue to digital. This is when I first came into touch with Pho- toshop etc. There were many new things to discover. There are a couple of publications on this topic which have included my work. Thus, my work has been recognized.

FORWARD MAGAZINE We talked about your journey from art director of a music label to self-employed graphic designer. Then came the transition to HORT and hence back to working in a team. Since 2015 however, you have begun to work independently under the name Eike König again. You’ve worked on your own prints and posters. What drove you to this decision and how does it feel to see your name on your work again?

EIKE KÖNIG After twenty years at HORT, I was invited to spend some time in Rome at the Villa Massimo. I used this time to contemplate my future. I conscious- ly chose this place to work on myself. There were no jobs and no safety net that I have today. I used my inner discourse as inspiration to create posters I used to print by hand. The more I engaged with subject of language and context, the more room for investigation I discovered. This has been my focus since 2013. How it feels? Well, stuff that I really do on my own, should be allowed to carry my name. The things I do within a team, are run under the HORT brand. Marketing myself is fun, as I can fall back on past experiences and accomplishments.

FORWARD MAGAZINE HORT counts numerous prominent companies, such as Nike, Arte, Bauhaus Dessau, MoMA, as its clients. How do you decide who to choose as a client?

EIKE KÖNIG We receive an inquiry. Following the inquiry, we hold a meeting and discuss the potential of the inquiry, the budget and the “match” between product and us. If we don’t like product, we decline. If we like it, we proceed.

FORWARD MAGAZINE What’s your success formula and what can other smaller agencies learn from HORT?

EIKE KÖNIG If there was a success formula... There are a lot of people that claim to know how to be successful. I believe that luck plays a major role, and in our case also personality, quality, self-critical reflection, humor and passion, the right moment etc. etc. We have always been very consistent in all areas. We only took projects that helped us grow. The pleasure of working on interesting projects and the related challenges were the main motivating forces, not so much financial success. The most important aspect, however, were and remain the relationships we cultivate within the team. I much rather invest into people than into success or getting attention.

FORWARD MAGAZINE During your studies, you still learned to design by hand. Later, the computer fundamentally changed the working method of creatives. As somebody who has worked analogue as well as digitally, what do you prefer? Which kind of work do you like doing by hand and which do you prefer digitally?

EIKE KÖNIG I was very lucky. I was taught design by hand, and then got in touch with computers for digital designs. Suddenly you had two available tools to implement your ideas. The analogue method is linked to a manual experience that I always felt a deep longing for. In my personal works I only work by hand. The manual labor helps me to decelerate a bit and acts as a meditating force. This method follows a specific timeframe that I cannot speed up. My state of mind is often reflected in the result. For graphic design I work digitally, since there is no way around it.

FORWARD MAGAZINE You oppose concepts like trends or inspiration. Where does this opposition come from?

EIKE KÖNIG I am not that opposed. Of course, I want my work to reflect a contemporary moment in time and be recognized for it. What are trends anyway? We have a job. And that job deals with problems and situations. It’s a about communicating a complex idea. A superficial trend won’t suffice, as the aesthetics need to meet the project concepts at hand. Making everything pretty and cool I don’t really consider a challenge.

FORWARD MAGAZINE Beside your work at HORT you also teach at a college in Offenbach. Obviously, the students learn primarily from you. I would like to know what you’ve learned from them?

EIKE KÖNIG What do students learn from their pro- fessors these days? Methods? Ways of thinking? Strategies? I would agree. But one must be careful. Surely, the individual with his strengths and weak- nesses, and interests is much more important. This is where one needs to start. How do I create an en- vironment that allows people to grow? Therefore, I prefer a critical discourse as well as an exchange of experiences. These are the kind of questions I try to answer while working with creative young minds. They keep me young at heart. ◆

<— Contents

INTERVIEWS

5—12 Mirko Borsche

***You are here***

22—29 Max Siedentopf

30—37 Anthony Burrill

ARTICLES

38—42 THE ODD ONE OUT

43—46 FESTIVAL DESIGNS

47—60 MOON EXHIBITION